opinion
Opinions in science, science fiction, and fantasy.
Murder by Science
In the centuries that have passed, and with them the ideas and thoughts of generations, there is a forgotten piece of the study of the humanities. The record is showing that the 'forgotten' is not merely a lapse in memory as the definition implies. It is not a lapse, but a death. From the time passed, it was important, albeit imperative, for one's study to include philosophy. The discipline of philosophy broke ground for many other disciplines; even if those disciplines refuse to acknowledge its incubator.
By Dr. Brian Smithberger5 years ago in Futurism
Taking Action
I consider myself to be someone who cares. I care about people, about small acts of kindness like picking up a sign that fell or saying a genuine thank you and "have a good day" when I get off the bus. I am trying to switch my household into a plastic-free home, I bring my own reusable straw when I go out and lend it to my friends. When I run out of my plastic household items I replace it with a natural alternative/one without plastic. I talk about these little changes with my friends, one of the greatest feelings I have is seeing them make the change. Being conscious when they're buying something if it contains plastic, refusing a plastic bag and using their own reusable foldaway bag, and refusing plastic straws. These are all minor behaviors.
By Cheyenne Martinez5 years ago in Futurism
The Universal Declaration of Living Rights
We as a people have come so far in our history, we have built monuments and great cities. We have taught one another and learned from one another, we have created masterpieces of pen and brush, and we have also fought to define who we are as a people.
By John Ames Birch5 years ago in Futurism
Future as the Past: Does 1980s Cyberpunk Need to Die?
The future as the past, specifically the 1980s, is a well-known trope in science fiction. Paul Walker-Emig emphasises this trope in his Guardian article, highlighting in particular how cyberpunk (as he refers to this 1980s future) needs to evolve or die. He has a point; however, his argument sweeps over crucial influences of the trope, such as continued anxieties and neoliberal capitalism.
By Harriet Weston5 years ago in Futurism
The Padded Cell Of Apologetics
A friend of mine recently brought up his increasing frustration with how easily the religious swallow ridiculous doctrine and unhesitatingly apply it to everyday life. He cannot stand how easy it is to live with a mind so warped that even the word 'the' might mean that the End of Days will happen by noon after lunch time.
By Kate Ashcraft6 years ago in Futurism
Can All the Problems on This Planet Be Fixed?
We live on a planet with many problems including right-wing extremist patterns of thought. This is by far, the biggest problem we have on our hands, the rise of yet another fascist ideology. Now, ask yourselves, why haven’t we fixed this stuff yet? Why aren’t white supremacists in therapy? Why do we take police brutality without protesting it except NFL players who are criticized for taking a knee? If we try to formulate concrete solutions to our problems, we might get somewhere. All it takes is forming think-tanks to resolve problems on this planet.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in Futurism
The Overpopulation Crisis
The answer to overpopulation is not necessarily to wipe the planet out with a deadly germ of some kind that can whittle us down. It isn’t even to use war as a way to kill people off slowly. By 2028 we could hit eight billion, the thing is we need to curb our need to have babies.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez6 years ago in Futurism
Celestial Astronomy - Volcano
After just completing the Mercurian phase in Celestial Astronomy's depiction of planetary evolution, one would logically conclude the next phase would be the Venutian phase. While that would be correct, we need to digress here for a moment to examine one of the more important pieces of planetary activity in order to get a better understanding of planetary evolution.One of the reasons planetary evolution is so difficult to discern is that you really need to combine the fields of astronomy and geology. Although legacy astronomy may enable you to chart the positions of the planets, in order to understand how they evolve and why they are at the positions they are at, as well as what they are doing at those positions during their lifetime, really requires an understanding of geology and wormation.Part of the goal is to try to recognize if there is a repeatable definable pattern that is taking place that will enable us to see planetary evolution through celestial astronomy as a structured process, not a random occurrence. In order to do this, we need to take a non-traditional viewpoint of how planets evolve so as not to arrive at the same conclusions legacy Astronomy has arrived at. A perfect example of this non-traditional approach is analyzing the word volcano. VOLCANO is a porpheme for VOLume CANOn. Volume as in a measure of space an object is taking up. Canon, not to be confused with cannon, a rule of conduct or official action similar to canon law. What this basically means is when you see volcanoes forming on a planet you can infer that the planet's volume is going to increase due to the behavior of the volcanoes.Whereas most people would probably be familiar with the term canon as in canon law in the church, the term canon when applied to planetary evolution is more like a law of physics. Though the concept of it being recognized behavior is similar to canon law in the church where their laws prescribe desired behavior. This desired behavior can be recognized when it is not being followed as well as when it is. Canon law pertaining to planetary evolution is recognized behavior of the planet's increase in volume because it can be seen over the lifetimes of planets. Unfortunately, up to this point, no one has drawn the correlation between the volcanoes and the increase in planetary volume. The key is that volcanic activity, when viewed from the big picture, is instrumental in planetary evolution. If the core of the planet is analogous to the root of a tree, the volcanoes might analogous to the leaves. Immediately, you might say but the leaves receive the light from the sun and the volcanoes don't. The key is that the cyclical nature of plate tectonics sending the crust of the Earth into the core where it is is superheated and the heavy elements are maintained and the lighter ones sent out through volcanoes is not only allowing the volume of the earth to increase it is making the core more receptive to the star's energy.So whereas there is no direct physical connection from light energy to a leaf, there is an indirect connection where volcanoes are instrumental in the cyclical process which enables the planetary core to receive more energy. Remember if the root is analogous to the core, the root is not visible so the analogy can only take you so far.So the main idea to get across is that when volcanoes start to appear on a planet, you can tell the planet is going to start to increase in volume. This is creating a repeatable definable pattern that will help to explain planetary evolution as a process that has structure and is not simply random.The volcanoes will perform slightly different functions as the planets grow. Once the planets have achieved their basic size, they are going to play a role in shaping the crust to define the terrain. As the planet's age, the volcanoes will play a role in helping the planet rarify its core to prepare for the journey to depart the star system and function as a comet again in the same or another star system. In the next article, we'll look at the Venutian phase.
By Richard Van Steenberg6 years ago in Futurism
Brain Candy Ch.1
In our world, it is perceived that we exist within the third dimension. Or at least this is the most common conception, so I will be using it in my little “theory.” I use the word "theory" lightly because I cannot stress this enough: I am not a theoretical physicist or a mathematician, I just have a pretty good grasp on most upper level physics and math. I’m really just a guy that thinks a lot.
By Brent DuVall6 years ago in Futurism
Celestial Astronomy Giant Impact Hypothesis
The most prevalent theory on how the moons in a star system originate around a planet is almost unbelievable. Legacy astronomy has come up with a description of how the planets form in a star system that seems plausible and is generally accepted by the astronomy community. How the moons originate and anchor or moor their motion to the planets is still open to debate. It is probably the biggest thing holding the Protoplanet hypothesis back from being universally accepted, as the explanation for how the star system and its planets and moons evolve.
By Richard Van Steenberg6 years ago in Futurism
Disappointed! (When a Franchise Becomes Too Popular)
I can’t help but feel excited any time a new Star Wars film arrives. Even if it turns out to be mediocre to say the least, any time the opening crawl appears with that iconic music from John Williams, it’s exciting. Perhaps it’s a symptom of the division in our society, but the most recent film garnered a shocking and frankly rather extreme reaction. I’m sure you read the reactions and reviews by now, and you either love it intensely, or you had such a visceral reaction the very thought of it almost gives you a coronary. However, this article isn’t about how good or how bad the last Star Wars film was.
By Benjamin Alexander House7 years ago in Futurism